EAST LANSING — Andre Sims Jr. had been waiting for "the big one" all season, and he had a premonition last week that it would come against Minnesota last Saturday.

"I was telling my teammates all this week, I was feeling this was the week we were gonna get something big,'' said Sims, whose 44-yard return late in the third quarter set up a field goal that made it 19-10 en route to the Spartans' 26-10 victory over the Golden Gophers.

Sims, who had 11 returns for 92 yards this season, was named to the Big Ten Network's All-Big Ten Freshman team on Tuesday.

Sims, a redshirt freshman, said he learned this season that returning punts at the college level is considerably different than at the high school level.

"It is a lot different, the most important thing is to get vertical as much as you can,'' Sims said. "Whatever side we're returning to, if I can get to the wall, it will be clear, and it will just be the punter and the big people.''

Sims Jr., ranked No. 63 among receivers by Scout.com coming out of Brookwood High School in Snellville, Ga., in 2011, said he just wishes he could have taken his big return all the way into the end zone against Minnesota in the Spartans' bowl-clinching victory.

"I was our of breath at the end,'' he said. "When I caught the ball, I held my breath, and when I got tackled, I started breathing again.''